Andy Murray has been praised by his compatriot Emma Raducanu, who revealed that she loves ‘to have him around’.
Murray is currently in a race against time to be fit for Wimbledon next week, after retiring early on his second round match at Queen’s against Jordan Thompson with a back problem.
The two-time Wimbledon champion underwent a procedure on this injury on Saturday, with there being reports that Murray would be pulling out of the grass court major.
However, Murray’s team has played down these reports and insisted that a decision is yet to be made on whether he will play singles and/or doubles with brother Jamie.
With it looking likely to be the final few months of Murray’s decorated career, Raducanu was asked about her fellow countryman and the rumours surrounding his Wimbledon participation.
“I think it’s very easy to jump to conclusions very quickly,” said Raducanu. “I don’t know what’s going on at all but I just wouldn’t believe everything that’s said in the press because a lot of the time it’s not the full story at all.”
Raducanu went onto heap praise on Murray, particularly due to his achievements at SW19, “Watching Andy at Wimbledon is so special. I just see him operate day to day, how professional he is, how he’s in the gym an hour and a half before practice, how he goes about his thing.
“It’s just nice to have that influence. He sets really good standards and all of us love to have him around. It’s nice to also see him hitting with the other boys and the other players. I think they all get really inspired when they play with him too.”
For Raducanu, things are looking more positive after she beat Sloane Stephens, 6-4 6-0, in her debut at the Eastbourne International yesterday.
After her straight sets victory in the seaside town, the 2021 US Open champion wrote ‘at my own pace’ on the camera lens and was asked to explain further what she meant by that.
“I’m going to do things on my own time, at my own pace, and I’m in no rush to do anything,” answered Raducanu. “I’m just way more focused on my own lane and less susceptible to outside opinions or views.”
The 21-year-old continued, “At such a young age, it’s easy to get caught up in it. I think at one point I was chasing, playing too many tournaments when I wasn’t ready, and then I was just picking up niggle after niggle in every tournament, because I never really gave myself any time to do the training and the work.”
Raducanu will continue her tournament in Eastbourne later today, when she plays world No.5 Jessica Pegula in the second round.
Inside the baseline…
Like Emma Raducanu said, none of us really know what is going on with Andy Murray and it is all just speculation until he reveals whether he will play at Wimbledon later this week. For Raducanu, it was a very impressive victory and performance against a fellow US Open champion in Sloane Stephens and it will be an even bigger test later today against Jessica Pegula, who is coming off the back of winning the title in Berlin.
